• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Good eq to cut through on my amp

J

Joey77

May 15, 2011
29
0
#1
I use a yorkville xm100c as my main amp (100 watts) it has a 3 band eq (bass, mid, treble) and a scoop control. the bass, mid and treble knobs have a 0 in the middle meaning flat anything rolled counterclock wise is cut and anything rolled clockwise is boosted. The eq I have been using is bass 7 (boosted), mids 4 (boosted) and treble 7 (boosted). Nothing is cut and the scoop control is off. I have a singer, drummer and 2 guitarists in my band and sometimes I get lost in the mix when playing. Any help on how I could change my eq to cut through?

thanks :)
 
#2
Bring the EQ back to flat and use the volume knob. When you boost bass like that, a small 100W can't do much.

BTW, with a drummer and 2 guitars you'll need another amp soon. I would say 400W and a 2x12 or 4x10 is the minimum to cut through in a loud band.
 
#4
Scooped / smiley face EQs are always going to get you lost in a mix. If you want to be heard, turn up the mids, or just bring it all to flat and turn the volume up. Even with bigger amps having a scooped EQ is going to often get lost in the mix, especially with 2 guitars. What sounds good in your bedroom is likely not going to sound so great in a band setting.
 
#5
allexcosta said:
Bring the EQ back to flat and use the volume knob. When you boost bass like that, a small 100W can't do much.

BTW, with a drummer and 2 guitars you'll need another amp soon. I would say 400W and a 2x12 or 4x10 is the minimum to cut through in a loud band.
Click to expand...

You are, of course, assuming there's not PA support. I "cut through" perfectly fine in my band, and I don't even have a cab at most of our gigs ;).
 
#6
yeah thanks man i know that scoop control get me lost in the mix thats why i always turn it off. although when u said boost the mids..did u mean to boost them and leave bass and treble flat?
 
#7
Joey77 said:
yeah thanks man i know that scoop control get me lost in the mix thats why i always turn it off. although when u said boost the mids..did u mean to boost them and leave bass and treble flat?
Click to expand...

Scooped EQ also refers to boosted lows/highs and flat or even cut mids, no matter how that's obtained. Having low/high knobs boosted and mids not = scooped tone. Making a graphic EQ look like a smile = scooped tone.
I would honestly set it totally flat and work in tiny increments from there, while at practice.
 
#8
Alright then i keep eq flat and scoop control off got it. What if when i practice with my band i cant be heard that much? And when i cant be heard i turn up the volume on my amp and then my guitarists tell me your too loud therefore i need to depend on eq
 
#10
Too loud with a 100 watt? Sounds like your guitar players do not like hearing bass. Your tone is probably has too much midrange in it and it sounds very annoying to them. They are probably looking for the bass tones to go lower and not jump into their range as much as you are doing now.

You need more wattage and a MUCH better speaker cab to get anywhere here. That 100 watt combo only has so much output and will give up quickly on the low end. Low end needs bigger speaker enclosures and a decent amount of wattage to work with.

On the other hand, your 100 watt combo can be suitable for practice if you are annoying the guitarists - they might have to deal with it.
 
#11
Ray Salamon said:
You are, of course, assuming there's not PA support. I "cut through" perfectly fine in my band, and I don't even have a cab at most of our gigs ;).
Click to expand...

You cut through onstage with the PA? That's pretty weird.

He needs to hear himself in the middle of a drummer and two guitarrists. Unless they use high quality monitors that can handle bass (let's say a Clair 12am ;)) he needs a more powerful amp ONSTAGE. The PA has nothing to do with it.
 
#12
allexcosta said:
You cut through onstage with the PA? That's pretty weird.

He needs to hear himself in the middle of a drummer and two guitarrists. Unless they use high quality monitors that can handle bass (let's say a Clair 12am ;)) he needs a more powerful amp ONSTAGE. The PA has nothing to do with it.
Click to expand...

I never said I cut through on stage, did I? Perhaps you should re-read my post. I cut through our mix perfectly fine.
My band uses in ear monitors, they handle the bass duty perfectly well.
He doesn't need a more powerful amp on stage at all. He has a lot of options available to him.
 
#13
If you are using an active bass, you have to consider how it is set as well.

Sometimes you will find that an active bass will sound fine alone but in the mix it can get lost if you don't pay close attention to what frequencies are overlapping with the other instruments and the vocals.
 
#14
Ray Salamon said:
I never said I cut through on stage, did I?
Click to expand...

So, I'll take that your previous post has nothing to do with the OP's question, then. He's playing ONSTAGE and it's not cutting through where he is. Quite obvious, I think... We're talking bass amps and being able to hear yourself here, got it?

What happens at the FOH is something else.

Perhaps you should re-read the whole thread.

Generally speaking, a tiny 100W combo is not enough for the bass player to hear himself in a loud environment, with a loud drummer and loud guitars. Well, at least it hasn't been loud enough for him.

And no, we're not talking in-ear here either... We're still talking amps. ;)
 
#15
Joey77 said:
Alright then i keep eq flat and scoop control off got it. What if when i practice with my band i cant be heard that much? And when i cant be heard i turn up the volume on my amp and then my guitarists tell me your too loud therefore i need to depend on eq
Click to expand...

It seems that there is a lack of understanding here. A boost of EQ is equivalent to turning up the volume, only it is done over a particular frequency band.
 
#16
allexcosta said:
So, I'll take that your previous post has nothing to do with the OP's question, then. He's playing ONSTAGE and it's not cutting through where he is. Quite obvious, I think... We're talking bass amps and being able to hear yourself here, got it?

What happens at the FOH is something else.

Perhaps you should re-read the whole thread.

Generally speaking, a tiny 100W combo is not enough for the bass player to hear himself in a loud environment, with a loud drummer and loud guitars. Well, at least it hasn't been loud enough for him.

And no, we're not talking in-ear here either... We're still talking amps. ;)
Click to expand...
The OP is looking how to cut through on stage. I came in from left field and am throwing out there that on-stage doesn't really matter, FOH does, and that he can use IEMs, a wedge, or have his bass amp close to him as well. All are viable options - you don't need to have any amp on stage, let alone a huge one. I haven't missed the point of the thread at all, rather, I've expanded the options - again, with the assumption that OP has adequate PA support. If not, then yup, he'll need a bigger amp.
 
#18
allexcosta said:
So, everything bigger than 100W is a huge amp?

Don't know if you have experience with SS amps, but 100W is a Hartke Kickback that you bring to coffeehouse gigs. 400-500W amps plus 4x10 or 2x12 is kind of standard for loud bands. Guess why...
Click to expand...

I have plenty of experience with music and non-music amps of quite a wide variety (especially considering I build/repair them). 100W will get stupid loud if you want it to.
 
#19
Ray Salamon said:
I have plenty of experience with music and non-music amps of quite a wide variety (especially considering I build/repair them). 100W will get stupid loud if you want it to.
Click to expand...

Well, we obviously aren't talking about unusual speaker sensitivities that will make 100W stupid loud.

Since you got experience with amps I'm probably guessing that you have none with a truly loud band, which can be the case. Most 100W combos will get buried in no time by a loud drummer. If that isn't true, why does almost every bass player uses more than 100W?

Or perhaps Tal Wilkenfeld brings 16 10" speakers just for looks:

Link Removed
 
#20
Joey77 said:
Alright then i keep eq flat and scoop control off got it. What if when i practice with my band i cant be heard that much? And when i cant be heard i turn up the volume on my amp and then my guitarists tell me your too loud therefore i need to depend on eq
Click to expand...

Two suggestions

1) as others have said, reduce your lows, they use up most of the available wattage so you can actually play louder - cleanly - with your lows turned down. Another reason to go flat or add a little mids is that if your tone is purposely muddy it will get lost in the bass drum sound.

2) don't play with your amp on the floor behind you or tilted back 2 feet from you - you want the sound to reach your head directly, so raise your amp or angle it at your head or put it across the room facing you.

These are the things I've done with my smaller bass, but honestly I've had problems with hearing my sound on my 350 watt amp until I started following this sort of guidance.

Good luck!
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back